Last night we were at the light until 5 am. We didn’t see a lot, which is to say we attracted hundreds rather than thousands of insect species. You can’t really say which were the most beautiful, because they are all unique. A drab brown moth with small spots of brilliant gold. A peanut moth with a tuft of hairs at the top of its head that make it look like a rabbit. Several varieties of mantis, stocky or slender, black or silver, all showing off a predatory personality.
The orthopterans – grasshoppers and katydids— are most of the biomass at the sheet. The commonest grasshopper is a dull black, but when you spread the hind wings you expose a striking purple. The green katydids are like grasshoppers that have been flattened sideways, into a shape that perfectly resembles a leaf. They are 3 times the size of Connecticut katydids, and they strike the sheet with audible force.
We caught a white witch, a very beat-up male. I wonder where it was going when it stopped off at the light? It won’t help wjth our project, because it can’t lay eggs. But maybe it is a sign of more to come.
--DLC